


Oh, your love is sunlight

by minvgigi



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkward Nico di Angelo, Blind Nico di Angelo, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Kinda, Light Angst, M/M, Musician Nico di Angelo, SPOILERS FOR THE SONG OF ACHILLES, Self-Indulgent, Slow Burn, Sort Of, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Sunshine Will Solace, Synesthesia, really light because i can't write angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:02:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29429259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minvgigi/pseuds/minvgigi
Summary: 'Before Will could start reading again, Nico spoke up. “You know,” he whispered softly, like a confession. “You really have a sunshiny voice.”“Mh?” Will closed the book. “How?”“The colour. I can see the colour of sounds. Your voice is golden, like the sun.”'Nico hasn't seen the sunlight in eight years and he thinks he won't be able to see it ever again. Will Solace proves him wrong.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 25
Kudos: 79





	Oh, your love is sunlight

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! First of all, thank you for giving this fic a chance, this means a lot to me :( I'm new here and you can call me hana or shizu!! also please have mercy this is the first time I finish a fanfic in more than four years and English isn't my first language!! I've proofread it and a kind friend of mine is going to beta it, too, but if you notice some mistakes or you want to point out something, tho, please do!  
> So, here's the fic. I swear it's not half as dramatic or serious as the summary makes it sound. This is just me being self-indulgent (aside from the fact that I wrote 20k words from the pov of a blind character and it was fucking hard) and trying to get over my writing block. Hope you enjoy!! uwu
> 
> (ps: title is taken from Sunlight by Hozier. it's one of the most beautiful songs i know and it fits perfectly for this fic, so go listen to it!!)
> 
> (pps: if you don't know the general Iliad story and still want to read it/The Song of Achilles STEER CLEAR of this fic)

Nico was not, usually, a disorganized person. He would have liked to be, sure, because order and chores and practical things were not his cup of tea, but he couldn’t afford to _not_ be organized. Because it could only result in this: Nico tripping over his own foot while searching for any of his black sweaters. Not that finding it was _that_ difficult, being most of his wardrobe.

“Siri, what time is it?” He’d luckily found the wall with his hand before nose-diving into his parquet, though he was still disoriented and sleep-addled.

His iPhone informed him that he had barely five minutes until Anastasia came over for her piano lessons. After some time he grabbed hold of a soft piece of clothing that felt like it could be a sweater, pulled it over his head and hoped he didn’t have a bird’s nest instead of his hair. Within minutes he was in his kitchen-living room, looking for his flask – he always got thirsty after waking up, he had priorities.

Nico didn’t care about his appearance, but Kayla had told him that she was busy in the afternoon and that her cousin would have dropped Anastasia off. He didn’t want to look like a clown in front of a relative of one of his closest friends.

Alas, he had woken up fifteen minutes ago, showered – and managed to not break any bone – and dressed up in half the time he normally did all that. Without coffee, too. He cursed himself for staying up late last night – late as in well past dawn. He knew this time he couldn’t blame the burning of his eyes on his spring allergies, but apparently inspiration worked only at ungodly hours.

The doorbell rang and he shuffled clumsily over to the door, relying on the familiarity of his small apartment.

“Coming!” he half-yelled, his voice still hoarse.

“Neeks!” a high voice exclaimed from behind the door. “It’s me!”

After finally opening the door, he found his lower half being engulfed in an embrace. He instinctively smiled, touching the little kid’s shoulders and head, ruffling her hair a bit. “Hey, Anya.”

“Uhm.”

Nico lifted his head towards the direction the deeper voice came from and a small surge of panic rose in his throat. It’d never been easy meeting new people. The light outside was positively annoying; nonetheless, he discerned various shades. A light halo sat on a darker mass and Nico assumed the stranger was either an angel or blond.

“Nice to meet you,” the voice said, no doubt a man’s.

It wasn’t particularly deep, but a rich golden colour erupted in Nico’s mind.

“I’m Will, Kayla’s cousin. She mentioned that I’d be the one to drop Anya off, right?”

“Yeah, she did.” Nico, temporarily thinking that this man, too, apparently called his student ‘Anya’, thrust out his hand and awkwardly touched Will’s fingers. He readjusted it and, attempting a small smile, properly shook the guy’s hand. It was warm and calloused. “I’m Nico di Angelo, nice to meet you.”

“Uncle,” Anya interrupted, tugging at Will’s hand. “Can’t you stay a little? I want to show you what I can do! Please?”

Her uncle laughed and Nico swore that he had never heard a warmer hue. Sometimes he hated his chromoesthesia.

“How about you show me this evening at home?” he conceded, an obvious smile seeping into his fond tone. “We don’t want to be impolite, princess.”

Nico smiled despite himself. “Ah, you wouldn’t. But,” he addressed Anya, patting her on the shoulder, “I can teach you something new, so you’ll surprise everyone tonight, okay?”

“Really? Okay!” She tugged at Will again, making him bend down, and she planted a kiss on his cheek. “See you later, uncle Will!” And she stormed off inside.

“God, where does she get all that energy?” Will half-laughed, half-groaned.

Nico snorted, leaning against the frame of the door and crossing his arms. “Kayla always tells me that she doesn’t put anything in her food, so I thought it might be some other relatives of hers. Wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?”

“If I _did_ do it, I’d give her a sedative. Ah,” he said after a brief pause, “I really have to go. Classes in the afternoon are a pain.”

Nico straightened himself, a thin smile still stretching his lips. “Tell me about it.”

“I’ll be here at 4:30 to pick the little pest up, if it works for you?”

Nico swore he could _hear_ the smile in Will’s voice. “Sure. Prepare yourself to be swept off your feet by Anya’s skills,” he joked.

“Can’t wait.” Will chuckled and turned sideways to go down the hall. “I look forward to see the skills of this teacher Kayla is always praising. See you later, Nico.”

Nico felt blood colour his pale cheeks. He was _so_ going to kill Kayla, even knowing he couldn’t say a single mean word to her. What did she even say about him?

He decided, however, that his murder plan had to wait for later, unless he wanted to look like an idiot. “Y-yeah, uh, bye, Will.” He waved meekly and heard footsteps drifting off down the stairs of the palace.

Nico sighed and retreated into his apartment, shutting the door. He also chose to shove thoughts about how _sunny_ Will was – from his voice to his laugh and his hands –, along with blurry flashbacks of Anya chattering about funny and embarrassing and sweet happenings with her uncle, to the back of his mind.

Nico heard the door opening and closing, but he barely payed attention to that, more concentrated on how Anya was doing the last exercise of the lesson. He always started and ended his lessons with solfège and his little pupil had really improved since she had begun playing roughly a year ago.

Hazel knew better than to interrupt and Nico absent-mindedly registered her footsteps going around in the kitchen, no doubt preparing her trademark hot chocolate. He always whined that she was trying to steal Anya away from him and abduct her with her cocoa skills, but they both knew that the little girl admired and loved Nico almost as much as her own parents.

By the time they were finished with exercise, the lovely smell of chocolate had wafted around the entire apartment.

Anastasia sprang to her feet and ran to Hazel, screaming her name delightedly like she hadn’t seen her just some days ago. Hazel giggled and Nico couldn’t help but smile while standing up and stretching his back and arms – his joints cracked and he was _definitely_ getting old.

“Hi, Anya,” Hazel said. “How’d the lesson go?”

“Good!” Anastasia replied, not the least bit tired, going over to the couch where Hazel was taking hot chocolate for the girl and Nico. “Neeks showed me something really cool! And he said that I was _acing_ it.”

His sister glanced at him, grinning, and went to the counter of the kitchen to fetch her own cup, waiting for him to reorder all the sheets and close the piano. “Yeah? Will you show me?”

“Nuh-uh.” She turned the TV on, now familiar enough with Nico’s living room and devices to open Netflix and the show they always watched together on her own. “It’s a secret for now!”

Hazel laughed and returned to the sofa, plopping down and hugging the hot fuming cup to her chest. “You watched the last episode without me,” she gasped dramatically. “I am offended.”

“I’ll tell you what happened,” Anastasia offered energetically, going off to ramble about _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ – Nico loved that show, sue him.

Nico snorted while going around the back of the couch to where Hazel was seated. She took his hand.

He had known her for so long that he could locate her even without hearing her voice, but he never refused physical contact with her. He squeezed her shoulder and lowered to kiss her forehead. “Hey, sis,” he whispered, not wanting to interrupt Anya still recounting her recap.

Hazel smiled and handed him his hot chocolate. He sat next to her.

They started the new episode, Nico slurping down his chocolate with enough cream and marshmallows to give him diabetes. Hazel had resigned to his unhealthy sweet tooth when she had caught him sneaking into the orphanage at night when he was sixteen, with a Happy Meal and something like three McFlurries. 

At some point, he felt her leaning into him, murmuring into his ear. “What’s with the sweater?”

Nico turned to her, his eyebrows furrowed. “What’s with it?” he asked, his confused tone a stark contrast to her amused one.

“Oh, my God.” She laughed under her breath. “You’re wearing that red and green pullover Leo got you last Christmas. You didn’t realize?”

 _This_ was why he hated not having everything in order. He groaned loudly, hitting the backrest with the back of his head and screwing his eyes shut.

He let the information settle in. He had greeted Kayla’s cousin with this obscenity. Will hadn’t even _laughed_ at him – and honestly, if he could’ve seen himself, he would’ve cackled for at least five minutes before burning that godforsaken sweater. For a second, Nico contemplated the idea of becoming an ostrich and burying his face in the sand. Then he decided for just killing Leo, maybe after having recycled his present and giving it to him for his birthday. His murder plan count today rose to two, one less than average. He still had the entire evening and night, though, and anything and everything could happen when you have assholes instead of friends.

“No, I didn’t,” he hissed through gritted teeth. “Tell me my jeans aren’t that hideous orange thing that Piper said made my ass look like a peach. Please, I beg you.”

Hazel couldn’t help herself and burst out laughing. Thankfully Anya was too engrossed in the show and wishing she had a flying bison to notice their conversation. “Nope, they’re your usual black. That would’ve made a good match, though. Outfit for Easter, maybe?”

Nico almost let out a sigh of relief. He was still _totally_ murdering Leo. “I should just burn these _things_.” He punctuated it by pinching his sweater like it physically stained him. It probably could, if he touched it long enough. “I’m going to change. If the doorbell rings open it for me, will you? Will’s coming to pick Anya up.”

“Who?” Hazel demanded, confused. Nico could almost sense the crease at the base of her brow, one he had often smoothed out especially when they were younger.

“Ah, he’s Kayla cousin. He dropped Anya off today, too, ‘cause Kayla was apparently busy. She still hasn’t told me why.”

Hazel just hummed, then, just after he got up, proceeded to sprawl out on his couch, sighing.

As he was slipping into his Haunter sweater – that’s what he wore at home, okay – he heard the bell buzzing. He pondered over the appealing possibility of hiding in his room and never seeing Will again, but he realized that would just come off as rude. But _seriously_ , who met someone for the first time clothed in a joke-gifted Christmas pullover with a straight face? 

Perhaps he became a bit dramatic when he didn’t get enough sleep. However, knowing it didn’t help his raging blush creeping up his neck as soon as he came out of the hallway and into the living room, where Hazel and Will were talking. She was offering to make him some hot chocolate, too, but Will’s voice was urgent as he kindly refused, explaining he had to go to work.

“Hi,” Nico chimed in, raising a hand in greeting and trying to ignore his flaming cheeks.

“Hey!” His tone was still warm, blinding gold. “I— uhm, nice shirt.” He paused and, maybe realizing he was inflicting physical pain on Nico, added, “Haunter’s one of my favourites.”

Nico, despite his embarrassment and the thought nagging at the back of head, telling him that Will was just messing with him, beamed. “Yeah, it’s one of my faves, too. Actually, Hazel gave this to me.”

“Yep,” she confirmed. “What was it? Two years ago?”

He hummed, nodding slightly. He remembered the first term of his first year of university ending and him rewarding himself by playing the first five generations of Pokémon in two weeks. Hazel had had to come by almost every day to make sure he was eating and drinking and, you know, living. He’d promised to go back to the human world after she ordered some theme shirts for him and herself. Not his fault he got slightly obsessed with his passions sometimes.

“But,” Hazel said to get back to the point, “will you tell our guest to stay for just a little? Besides, Anya’s still watching that episode.”

Will sighed and Nico could imagine his shoulders sagging in defeat. Hazel could be… _imposing_. “Okay, but only till the end of it. What’s she watching anyway?”

“ _Avatar_ , because Nico is a nerd and he likes projecting all his favourite shows onto her.”

He glared at her direction. “I’m not a _ner_ —”

“That’d make the two of us.” Will’s voice unmistakably sounded like he was smiling. “I love _Avatar_. Now I finally know someone I can talk to about it.”

“I’m warning you,” Nico teased fondly, “your niece won’t shut up for a minute once you get her talking.”

Will laughed. “Oh, I know that. But I was talking about you. I’ll teach her how to _fangirl_ properly, though.”

“Ah, good,” said Hazel. She was smirking and he _knew_ it. “At least he won’t kidnap Piper anymore just to talk about shows and games and stuff. Jason’s always complaining about that.”

“Thank me for not taking Jason instead. Then I’d have both his girlfriend _and_ boyfriend whining because they haven’t seen him in two hours.”

She shrugged. “True that.”

Then Nico’s brain finally processed Will’s previous words and _oh._ Why would Will want to talk to him? Besides, the way he said that implied that they would see each other more times to come.

“Wait,” he managed as he turned to the other boy, who had stayed silent during the siblings’ good-natured bickering. “You’re coming again?” The fear that he might have misunderstood clawed at his chest, a small amount of disappointment seeping into him. Although that was ridiculous. He had known this young man for less than two hours and had spoken to him for no more than five minutes total, and Nico had never been one to warm up to people quickly or easily. He justified his baseless concern on the fact that knowing someone with your same interests and not being able to talk to them was a perfect reason for despairing.

“Uh, yeah,” Will muttered, puzzled and… a bit _offended_?

Had he taken Nico’s question the wrong way? God, he was so shitty at people skills.

“Kayla doesn’t trust Anya with any professional driver,” he continued before Nico could apologize and explain, “so she asked me to drive her here and back home. She finally got a permanent job at that gym, but she’s teaching archery in the afternoon, so I guess I’ll be here. Didn’t she tell you about it?”

He shook his head. “Nope, she just said that her cousin would come this time and she would explain next time.” The corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. “I’m happy for her, she’s wanted that job since forever.” Then, with a surge of courage he wasn’t usually capable of, he added, chuckling lightly, “And I’m glad to have someone else to _fanboy_ with.”

“Perfect,” Will replied, sounding like he was shining. “We can play Pokémon together sometime, maybe?”

“God,” Hazel interrupted their rambling, most likely rolling her eyes. “You two really _are_ nerds.”

Will laughed, whereas Nico settled for pouting. He was having a moment there.

“You’re one to talk,” Nico mumbled, crossing his arms. “You know literally every painter or sculptor or whatever that ever existed. You’re just a different type of geek.”

“Yeah, but that’s sort of my job.” She elbowed him jokingly. “You know every musician or composer or _whatever_ that ever existed, too.”

“Okay, sure, but—“

“Uncle!” Anya came barrelling into Will. Nico hadn’t noticed that the TV had stopped playing, as much as the little girl hadn’t been aware that her beloved uncle had been standing there for a while.

“Hey, princess.” Nico was quite sure his voice took to a warmer, deeper shade when he talked to his niece. “How’s the lesson? Learnt something new?”

“Yep!” she answered joyfully, popping the _p_. “But Neeks said no showing the others for now! ‘S a secret.”

Will hummed. “Then I guess we’ll have to trust your teacher, huh?”

Nico wasn’t used to such friendliness. Nearly everyone he met was put off by his almost total blindness, even if they didn’t admit it. Perhaps it was his unfocused eyes, or the way he moved and the way he couldn’t see the others’ body language, or the strange sounds he sometimes made to echolocate; perhaps _he_ was the problem. For years he had tormented himself, pushing people away, because he may have been irrational, but he wasn’t unaware, even of these little things. He had been convinced that people just didn’t want to be with him or near him. Then he’d stumbled into Jason, whose stubbornness had been enough to crack his walls, despite the fact that Nico really had gone out of his way to ignore him.

Slowly, with frequent relapses and the help of his therapist, he had got better. He still panicked when he met new people and, as he said or did anything, he’d overthink and tell himself, _Well, now you’ve done it_. Yet he also knew, rationally, that it was all in his head, that people didn’t hate him on the spot; and if they did, they were plain stupid.

Nonetheless, he knew he wasn’t the most sociable guy and all his friends had taken a bit to warm up to him. The only one who had treated him like he was a fragile piece of glass a moment away from shattering was Leo, although he didn’t know how to feel about it. Leo was infuriating most of the time, but he had come as a package deal with Jason and Piper, so he’d decided he could _tolerate_ him.

After a few beats, Nico got out of his stupor. “She’ll be ready soon enough,” he promised, grinning proudly. “Anya’s a fast learner.”

Will mussed up her hair. “That’s my princess.”

The little girl didn’t respond, but Nico imagined she was looking at the ground, smiling shyly, like she did every time someone complimented her.

“You ready to go?” Will continued, squeezing his niece’s hand. “Mama will be home soon and uncle has to go to work.”

Anya muttered something in a dejected tone, yet she didn’t protest. Nico guessed that seeing her mom again was a pretty convincing reason to go home.

“We’ll be going, then. It was nice meeting you, Hazel.” He turned to the other boy as his timbre became impossibly brighter. “See you next time?”

“Y-yeah,” Nico croaked out and willed himself to steady his voice. “I’ll see you next time.”

After escorting them to the door and saying goodbye again, he returned to the couch. He hadn’t felt this emotionally drained since he had had one of his Serious Talks™ with Jason, and that had happened at least three weeks ago.

“You’re a mess,” Hazel noted as she sat beside him, scrolling through her phone.

“I’m perfectly normal,” he objected.

“I correct myself. You _both_ are a mess.”

“He’s a friendly guy and has treated me like a civilized person. What’s weird about that?”

“For one,” she began, “he totally checked you out.”

Nico nearly choked, sputtering out a, “What”. “Why would he even check me out? I literally had a red and green Christmas sweater. And it’s March.”

“Wouldn’t know about that.” He felt her shrug from where her shoulder pressed against his. “But he checked you out with _this_ shirt.”

“Not much better,” he grumbled.

“But, seriously,” she said, the hint of teasing lost in her tone, “he seems like a good guy. And he’s apparently a geek, too. Try to, you know, talk to him for longer than a minute. There’s nothing wrong in befriending someone.”

Nico groaned, despite his gratefulness for his sister’s words. She didn’t say anything that he hadn’t already realized, but he could always use some reassurance, especially from Hazel. She didn’t sugarcoat her thoughts and he trusted no one more than her, except maybe for Reyna, who was just as blunt.

“I have to go study.” He patted her thigh, then he pushed himself up, turning sideways to address her. “Are you staying for dinner?”

“Nope, I’m with Frank tonight. But if you want I can cook now and you can heat it later? My shift at the workshop starts in…” A pause. “Oh. Half an hour.”

“Don’t worry, Haze.” He smiled kindly. “I’ll eat something later.”

“Wait,” she ordered, piercing him with a suspicious stare. “Have you eaten today?”

“Uhm,” Nico said intelligently, scraping sheepishly at the back of his wrist. He hated when she did that. It was still hard for him to create a proper sleeping and eating routine and sometimes he just forgot. Then he’d stuff himself with McDonald’s – that was probably how he managed not to disappear. “Cocoa has a lot of nutritional value?”

“No, it doesn’t,” she said austerely. “I’m not going anywhere until you eat at least some pasta.”

“It’s _your_ workshop, not mine,” he whispered, sulking. He proceeded to head for the kitchen, anyway, because he knew he couldn’t argue with her.

Then he remembered she was using her phone. _Please, let it not be that_ , he prayed. “Also, not of a word about Will in the groupchat. You know how Jason gets. And Leo becomes even _more_ insufferable.”

“Erm,” she yelped, in that high, a bit ashamed voice she always had when she lied or hid something. “Too late? I didn’t say anything about him checking you out, though.”

Nico looked into the void, his shoulders slumping, although he couldn’t really look at anything. He just felt he had the right for being dramatic. “I’m gonna _die_.”

Nico did not, in fact, die. However, he’d been on the brink of committing homicide several times in the last few days, and the potential victim had been tempting him a lot, albeit perfectly aware of it. Or maybe _because_ he was perfectly aware of it. The only thing that had stopped Nico from killing Leo was the fact that Hazel, Jason and Piper would’ve cried a lot. He was considerate that way.

Two days after his first meeting with Will, he woke up at a humanly hour. He had breakfast, showered, studied all morning, had lunch, went to the grocery store to buy some essentials – which included chocolate chip cookies – and played the piano. Maybe he was a bit too proud of his early spurt of productivity but, _hey, someday you can be proud of yourself even for getting out of bed_. Or at least that’s what Jason – and his therapist – was always boring into his brain.

It was almost 3:00 in the afternoon and Anya would be coming soon. He subtly smoothed out his clothes – this time completely black – and partially collected his long hair into a bun – mostly for comfort, he told himself, but maybe he put extra care in doing it.

When he went to open the door, the first thought that flashed through his mind was, _Not him_. The blond halo around his guest wasn’t there. His spatial awareness was mostly bullshit, but he could tell this was not Will. This figure appeared to be slimmer and definitely shorter. And their hair was a dark colour.

“Hey, Neeks.”

For the second time, the same obvious realization passed through his brain. The voice was not molten gold. Also, the only adult that actually called him _Neeks_ certainly wasn’t Will. Nico was reluctant to admit to himself that a small coil of disappointment formed in his gut, though it soon faded.

“Hi, Kayla.” He smiled as his legs were suddenly enveloped by two small, thin arms. “Hey, Anya. Come in.”

As they entered, Kayla told him that she wanted to talk to him for a bit, so Nico suggested Anya go and warm up her fingers with some scales. She agreed and some moments after the gentle sound of the piano echoed in the apartment. Meanwhile, Nico started preparing their usual tea – with Kayla’s help, because she seemingly couldn’t take no as an answer. She also had a sort of nervous energy that she had to express in some way, a feature that reminded him of Leo.

“So,” Nico started while taking the cups, “finally an archery teacher?”

Kayla undoubtedly smiled. “Only part-time, but yep. I’m gonna have my hands full with this and my morning shifts at school. Hopefully Nastya won’t miss me too much.” There it was, that endearing nickname only she used when calling her daughter.

“She has me, so she won’t miss anyone,” he joked, although he knew how much Anya loved her mother. Actually, maybe he _didn’t_ know. He barely remembered how it felt to have a mom.

She bumped her hip against his. “First of all, she has Mingyu. He’s awfully busy, too, but he’ll manage.”

Nico hummed. “Is it alright between you two? Do you still get along?”

Kayla leaned against the counter, waiting for the water to boil. “Yeah, I guess. We agreed to live together until Nastya’s old enough and she won’t be too bothered with us being separated. Also,” she shrugged, “we’re friends and don’t really mind living in the same home. We still love each other, you know.”

Nico recalled his stupid teenager crush on Percy Jackson. He reflected on their relationship at the moment, how he still loved him, albeit as a distant friend. “Yes, I know.”

“So!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands. “You met Will!”

 _Oh, my God, please not you too_ , he thought. “I did,” he said, refraining from sighing. He had trouble snapping at her, even good-naturedly. Maybe it was because Kayla was nine years older than him, or maybe because he was weak for her, even weaker than he was for Hazel. She’d practically adopted him and she reminded him so much of Bianca, when they started to talk as actual friends and he opened up to her more than a year ago, he cried a few times. “He told me he’d heard about me from you.”

“Ah,” she exhaled, sounding a bit shy. “Nastya talks about you a lot, so he asked me about it. I only said what I think is true.”

Despite his embarrassment, he couldn’t help smiling. A small fit of panic flared in his chest, knowing that people mentioned him – _they’re speaking behind your back, you can’t trust anyone_ –, but he also knew they said only good things. Either way, Kayla was too sincere to badmouth him behind his back. “Did he say anything?”

“Secret.” He could hear her smirking.

She and her daughter were too similar for his liking. It felt good to be part of a silly secretive club of a total of two people regarding some tricks to play the piano better with Anastasia. However, he didn’t appreciate being left out, even with these stupid little things.

Yeah, he knew. It wasn’t like he was the first person ever to not like secrets; that didn’t mean he couldn’t be whiny about it, at least in his mind.

With a grumble, he decided he could actually be whiny about it aloud, too. “Come on,” he dragged out the vocals, “what did he say?”

“You know you don’t get away with that puppy face with me, di Angelo.” She flicked him on the forehead.

Nico sulked. “You’re literally the only one it works on. Everyone seems to think I’m just an old man, but you know that’s not true, right?”

Kayla snorted, taking the kettle and pouring the hot water in the cups. “You sent me an audio the other day after, like, a week I hadn’t heard your voice, just to say that your knee joints were dying.”

“Eh,” he said, taking his cup and scrunching his nose at the steam wafting over his face, “you probably imagined it.”

“So dramatic,” she lamented, most likely rolling her bluebell blue eyes.

Imagining that colour, Nico wondered half-mindedly if Will’s eyes were blue, too.

A week had passed since he first met Will, meaning he’d get to see him again today.

Kayla had explained to him that she worked as an archery instructor three days a week, two of which incidentally were the days he had Anya over for her piano lessons. Mingyu worked till early evening, so she’d turned to Will. Last week, when her cousin had come for the first time, she’d had to go to the gym for some bureaucracy things, but she actually started working today. He’d sent her a good luck text for her first day, because Nico was a good friend to people that treated him fairly well. To people like Leo and Piper, who’d been teasing the daylight out of him? Not so much. He’d been ghosting their messages for three days now and they were sure he was still alive only thanks to their boyfriend. It would’ve been funny if they hadn’t had any information of him whatsoever – curse them and their nosiness –, but unfortunately Jason wasn’t that mean.

Jason, Reyna and Frank were approximately the only ones who hadn’t poked at him for having met a new person; Jason and Reyna had also been informed of the colour of Will’s voice, since Nico had always more or less described these sensations to them as well as to Hazel. Jason had let out a _Oh_ , but hadn’t pried, while Reyna had made an enigmatic sound and let the topic drop. He liked to think that they hadn’t bugged him for the sole reason that it was ridiculous, considering he’d met Will once, and not because they didn’t want to scare him away. Frank had been his game buddy for years and he wasn’t discussing boys with him, not now, not ever.

Yet perhaps all this talk about Will, all the teasing from Leo and Piper, it had got to his head. He _hated_ that. It also didn’t stop him from feeling a little anticipation.

This morning he had worked on his final music project, not even realizing the sun had gone up and his phone, that he later found in the bathroom, had rung multiple times. He’d had lunch later than usual with a sandwich and some salad because Hazel insisted that he eat some vegetables other than junk food. He was now sprawled on his couch, listening to the audiobook version of _Zeno’s Conscience_ in Italian, because he didn’t want to forget the language. Now it was basically the only mutual element between his present life in New York and his idyllic old life in Venice. It was the linking point to Bianca and his mother, to the brief happy moments in the USA when they would all get together and speak Italian again before the incident. He had no one he could speak Italian to, or at least no one alive.

The colour of the narration was an ugly aubergine that, in Nico’s opinion, matched perfectly with Zeno’s personality, even though the content of the book had nothing to do with the narrator’s voice. He was so concentrated on grimacing over Zeno’s debatable actions, he almost fell off the sofa upon hearing the doorbell go off. He scrambled to stop the audiobook and go to the door, hopefully without tripping over his own feet.

“Hey,” Will greeted with a kind voice, watching his niece attach herself to Nico, squealing his name.

The corners of Nico’s mouth turned as he patted Anya’s hair, sending her inside. “Hi. Wanna come in for a bit?” He tried not to cringe at his attempt at smoothness.

“I have lectures,” Will whined. “But I’ll be there to watch _Avatar_ later?”

“Sure, just, if you can, come here a bit earlier than last time.” Nico snorted. “Hazel’s gonna come at me for watching another episode without her. But oh, well, we’ll just watch it together tomorrow when she comes by.”

“I wanted to try her hot chocolate. Anya makes it sound like it’s some gods’ nectar.” He sighed. “Guess I’ll have to wait.”

“I’ll have you know,” Nico said, totally straight-faced, “I make a mean hot cocoa.”

“Mh, I’ll settle for that, then. For now.”

“You’ll regret not believing in my culinary skills,” Nico warned, arching his eyebrows.

Will laughed and again the sun, whose colour Nico had almost forgotten, appeared before his eyes.

“That’s a lot of sugar.”

“That’s the main ingredient of hot chocolate.”

“Uh, no, it’s not. That’s chocolate.”

“Same thing.”

“You _have_ to get diabetes this way.”

“Is that a challenge?”

Will exhaled loudly. “It’s a warning by a pre-med student.”

Nico shrugged, taking a sip of his diabetes-inducer. “I’ll think about it when it happens. So, pre-med?”

“Yes,” Will grunted unhappily, still eyeing distastefully his beloved _Big Hero 6_ cup. “I’m in third year and studied enough to know that your body is screaming in protest right now.”

“Yeah?” Nico said with a lopsided smirk. “I can’t hear it over the sound of my taste buds screaming in delight.”

“Oh, my God,” Will groaned, passing a hand through his blond locks in an exasperated gesture. “You’re impossible.” He then proceeded to drink his cocoa, minus the cream and marshmallows.

Anya, oblivious to their bickering, clicked the play button and the intro to _Avatar_ started, recapping what had been going on in the last episodes. The next twenty minutes were spent mostly in silence, listening to the narrator, except for a few jokes by Will that made Nico hide his grin in his cup. If he left a bit of his drink there until the end of the episode just to have an excuse to bring it to his lips, nobody had to know.

Weeks passed, Easter at Piper’s dad’s villa with Hazel, Frank, Jason and Leo was good, the days became longer and the end of term closer. Piper also demanded they went on picnics now that the weather wasn’t as chilly, much to Leo and Nico’s chagrin. Jason backed her up, reminding them that Nico had to go out for some fresh air once in a while, since he didn’t go to campus if not for exams, and that Leo could’ve holed himself up in his workshop for days without noticing, so it was their job to get him out.

They stopped asking about Will eventually. Even so, Nico wouldn’t have known what to say. His interactions with Will were brief, due to the tight schedule the blond was on, with his job and classes, but most of all they were easy. They bickered and talked about everything and nothing as if they’d known each forever, which was a totally new feeling for Nico. He’d never met someone he hit it off with so well right off the bat, someone he felt so in synchrony with. Will felt like a long lost friend whom he got reunited with, who knew him so well he didn’t have to say anything to be understood. They skimmed around some topics as if they realized they were too delicate; some others they talked about.

Nico had learned that Will was from Texas – to prove it, he went off on a ramble with his southern accent that made Nico _literally_ fall off the couch –, where his mother still lived. Kayla was his cousin from his father part, but he didn’t elaborate on that and Nico decided not to question it. Will apparently worked the earliest shift at a bar, making cocktails – “You’re a pre-med student and you sell alcohol,” Nico had deadpanned, to which Will had shrugged, saying, “Business is tough”. He also often mentioned two of his friends: Lou Ellen and Cecil. Cecil seemed to be as much a troublemaker as Leo, if not more, if the way he and Will had met were anything to go by. They had been in sixth grade and Will had found him in the bathroom, his arm stuck up a fucking _vending machine_. To this day, Will still didn’t know how – or why – Cecil had managed to carry a vending machine to the bathroom unnoticed.

Nico had strangely opened up too, telling Will he’d met Hazel at the orphanage when he was thirteen and that they were so close they’d considered each other sibling for years now. He’d recounted how he and Jason had met and how he’d been basically adopted, and how Piper and Leo had become his friends afterwards, along with Reyna.

They chatted about books and shows and games. Will was apparently a die-hard fan of _Star Wars_ , making Nico wrinkle his nose at the thought. There hadn’t been a single time that Nico had been more bored than when he’d tried listening to _Star Wars_.

“You like _Gossip Girl_. You don’t get a saying in this.”

“I don’t _like_ _Gossip Girl_!” Nico had exclaimed indignantly. “It helped me fall asleep, okay!”

“You still finished it,” Will had said with a teasing grin.

They’d fussed over their love for _Anastasia_ by Disney, Nico gloating about having been the first one to make Anya watch it. They constantly exchanged theories about the next _Pokémon_ game – at least they agreed they both wanted a remake of the fourth generation.

Above all, Nico had learned about and relished Will’s personality. Will was mostly a laid-back guy, kind and warm. That didn’t mean he was passive or mild. The first few weeks of knowing him, Nico had found him polite and placid; then he discovered he could be the bluntest and most headstrong person he’d ever known. Once, Nico had dropped a half-hearted comment of him starving because he had skipped lunch. Will had insisted on cooking him something with an almost angry demeanour, so Nico hadn’t even blushed thinking about Will cooking and caring for him. He guessed those were Doctor Solace’s instincts. He also said whatever he thought with little filter, which was so refreshing Nico, too, had started to restrain himself less and less.

There was only one thing that bothered him still. Nico still didn’t have Will’s number. After two months, he was fairly sure Will wouldn’t be creeped out by him asking for his number, but Nico couldn’t find the right moment. It was cliché, yes. Still, what could he say? _Hey, I think we’re friends and I want to send you incorrect quotes of_ Avatar, _so can you give me your number?_ Will would even laugh at that, that went without doubts, and he’d have no problems giving him his number. Somehow, it still didn’t feel right.

The excuse for asking him presented itself in the worst case possible.

Nico had detected the sloppiness oozing from Anya the second they had started the lesson. He obviously didn’t berate her for it: bad days happened to everyone. Heck, there were times when he couldn’t even recognize the keys under his fingertips, when he was so paralyzed that the piano felt like a total stranger to him. Therefore, he’d gone easy on her, letting her do the exercises she liked the most and shortening the ones she always complained about.

Now, at the end of the lesson, she’d just excused herself to the bathroom, so Nico was left to tidy up the sheets. He asked his phone what time it was and it informed him that, as he expected, they’d called it a day far earlier than usual. That was okay with him. Practice didn’t do much if his student’s heart and mind wasn’t in it, so he’d rather have Anya relax than force herself for nothing.

Except, a few moments later, Anya called him from the bathroom. Her voice was hoarse and she let out a loud sob, making Nico’s heartbeat soar. He scrambled to get to her, yelling a pretty useless _What’s going on?_. If he wasn’t so used to putting his hands before him, he would have slammed into a wall. He could hear her crying and it was so heart-wrenching he felt like crying in panic, too. He opened the door – thank God she wasn’t accustomed to locking it – and went near her. Searching for her, he found the little girl on her knees in front of the toilet bowl. Judging from the stench, she’d just retched.

“Hey, Anya,” he said, his fear subsiding. He’d dreaded she’d fallen and hit something. “Sh, it’s okay.” He gently took her face with one hand and reached for the toilet paper. He dabbed at her mouth, all the while muttering soothing words, her sobs dulling into hiccups.

“’m sorry,” she whimpered. “Bed.”

Having finished drying the tears from her face, he touched her forehead. She was burning. He stopped himself from cursing in front of her, instead adjusting her in his arms so he could carry her to his bed. Nico had never felt so lucky for his single-floor apartment.

He lay Anya down on his bed, covering her shivering body with blankets, and left for the living room where his phone would be lying somewhere. He called for Siri and found it on the bookshelf beside the piano. He briefly complimented himself for not having abandoned it on the couch, otherwise it would’ve taken ages to reach it under the cushions. He immediately phoned Kayla and headed for his bedroom again. The voicemail started talking after several rings, making him exhale exasperatedly and sit heavily at the foot of the bed. He almost told Siri to call Will, only to be reminded that he didn’t have his number. Later, Nico would make sure he got it, along with those of his friends and his mother, too.

At last, he chose to call Hazel, after mentally going through her schedule. She was supposedly free, so she was either studying or hanging out with Frank or Lavinia, a friend of hers. Thankfully, she picked up right away.

“ _What’s wrong?_ ” she asked without saying hi, alarmed.

“Geez, not even a, _Hey, brother, how are you?_ ”

“ _You never call unless—_ ”

“Yeah, on that note,” he interrupted her, his tone shifting to a serious one, “are you doing something right now? Anya’s suddenly sick and— and she vomited and Kayla’s not picking up and I don’t want to leave Anya—”

“ _Got it. I’m coming._ ” And she hung up.

Nico sighed in relief, then turned to his little pupil and got closer to her. He brushed her hair away from her eyes and cheeks. “Anya, how’re you feeling?”

“Bad,” she croaked out, her eyes close shut. “Mama?”

He pressed his lips together. He’d have to tell Kayla to keep her phone within reaching distance, even during her lessons. “Haze’s coming. Uncle Will will be here in a while, too.” He fixed the covers a bit. “Do you want some water? Do you need to go the bathroom again?”

Anya whined something incomprehensible that Nico interpreted as a _no_. “Water,” she said.

“I’ll be here in a second, princess.” He got up, eliciting another upset whimper from her, but he only squeezed her hand and went into the kitchen.

He had gotten the habit of calling her _princess_ from Will a couple of weeks ago; Anya had never complained and neither had Will, of course, so now he often used the nickname absent-mindedly.

As he was filling a glass with water, the doorbell went off. Nico almost dropped the bottle and literally ran to the entrance.

“Hey, Nic—”

“Thank _God_.” He was so glad of hearing Will’s sunny voice he had the instinct to kiss him right then and there. Instead, he reached for his wrist – fortunately he guessed the right place, because touching any other skin in the proximity of his hand would have been too awkward and too long to explain – and dragged him inside.

“Didn’t think you’d be _this_ happy to see me, di Angelo,” Will teased him, always with that damned golden voice.

“Shut up, Solace,” Nico replied, despite his heart had done a small somersault at the other boy’s comment. “Anya’s sick. Give me your number.”

“What?”

Nico sighed, pushing open the half-closed door of his room. He had no time to feel ashamed of the mess on the floor and his electronic set-up, so he entered with Will in tow. “Anya’s vomited, like, ten minutes ago, and she’s burning up. I need your number in case anything like this happens again, since your cousin decides to disappear from the face of the earth when she works.”

A beat of silence, during which Nico went to the bed to check up on the little girl.

“Uh, right. Sure,” Will mumbled, obviously disoriented. Another pause. “Wait,” he said, his voice finally taking to a nervous note. Nico heard him shuffle to the other side of the bed and sit on it.

“Hi, princess,” he greeted kindly, with a tone that warmed Nico down to his toes. “Uncle Will’s here.”

Anya hummed sleepily as Will took her hand and with his other checked her temperature.

“Anya,” Will softly called, trying to keep her awake for some more minutes. Nico took a seat too. “Where does it hurt, princess?”

“Tummy,” she lamented.

“And what did dad cook for lunch?”

She moaned something unintelligible. Then she tried again, “Rice and veggies.”

Will sighed, though Nico didn’t really get whether it was a sigh of relief or something else. “It’s probably not food poisoning, then.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning it’s probably a virus or bacteria. Let’s hope it’s a virus.”

Nico wasn’t the best at science. He remembered next to nothing of what he’d studied at the orphanage with the nuns. “Or?”

“Or,” Will said patiently, “she’ll need antibiotics. So yeah, let’s hope not.”

Nico trusted the expert in the matter. “Does she need anything? I have some aspirin or—”

Will punt his hand over Nico’s own, sending an electric current down his spine. They never touched this directly. Although Nico wasn’t a fan of physical contact with people he’d known for so little, he fought down the impulse of taking Will’s hand.

“Some water for now. She’s too young for your medicines.”

Nico nodded, a bit dumbfounded, and did as told.

Nico had obtained Will’s number and the blond boy hadn’t hesitated to send him memes and other stupid things from the internet. Hazel had arrived to a scene of Nico and Will awkwardly parenting Anastasia. Kayla had apologized profusely and had promised to keep the sound on in her phone, all the while fretting over her daughter. In the end, it _had_ been a virus.

That was probably why Nico found himself bedridden two days later, his joints aching – more than usual – and his breath stinking of death.

“This is ridiculous,” he whined into his blankets, as Hazel set down a ginger infusion on his bedside table.

“ _You_ ’re being ridiculous,” Hazel said, “and dramatic.”

He pouted. “I’m _sick_.”

“Yeah,” she mocked him, no doubt rolling her golden eyes, “you barely have a fever. And you should save your energy for recovering, not for whining.”

“I hate it when you’re right,” he lamented and dove under his covers.

Before his sister could reply, his phone started buzzing with _Non-Stop_ from _Hamilton_ so suddenly and loudly that, hadn’t his senses been so dulled, he would’ve yelped.

“It’s Will,” Hazel noted, surprised with a hint of poorly-hidden satisfaction.

That, at least, managed to get his attention. “Siri, answer. Speaker on,” he told his iPhone.

“ _Hey._ ”

Nico smiled slightly. He didn’t know how it was possible for a voice saying a plain _Hey_ to give him this sense of serenity, but apparently Will exceeded his expectations. “Hi.”

“ _Uhm, did I just wake you up?_ ”

“No, no.” He tried to quietly clear his voice, hopefully not sounding like he was in his death-bed. “Did you need to tell me something?”

“ _I just wanted to say that Anya’s still not completely well, so she’s gonna skip today’s lesson._ ” He paused. “ _Is everything alright? You sound like you’re dying._ ”

So much for clearing out his voice. He heard Hazel snickering, but he settled for sulking a bit more. “I’m— sort of. I would’ve called it off anyway. I think she passed me the virus and I’ve been in bed since early this morning.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Will said, vaguely worried. “ _Do you want me to come by later? I can cook some dinner. Actually healthy dinner, not McDonald’s_.”

Nico’s heart started galloping in his chest. Will was offering to see him for nothing else than… seeing him. He didn’t have to do this, and yet he had asked him as casually as Jason usually said he was crashing in Nico’s apartment because his roommate had _sexiled_ him.

“McDonald’s provides an amazing meal when you’re sick and can’t move. They even bring your food home, can you imagine?”

“ _That’s funny_ ,” Will deadpanned, “ _’cause I’m trying to do the same._ ”

He attempted hiding his grin, but from the sound of Hazel’s giggle he wasn’t doing a good job. Must’ve been the virus. “Then I guess I’ll have to accept.” Then his brain caught up to the situation. “Wait— your job?”

“ _Dakota asked me to switch shifts yesterday, so I’m working late_ ,” he explained like it wasn’t that important. “ _Be there at 5. Bye!_ ”

Nico said goodbye, too, and Hazel exclaimed a _Finally!_ for the both of them.

“It’s a date.”

“It’s not a date. I’m ill and he’s gonna be in doctor mode all evening.”

“He basically asked you out.”

“More like he asked himself in.”

“He’s obviously into you.”

Nico groaned one last time and, downing the ginger infusion with a grimace, decided to sleep the afternoon away.

Hazel had woken him up around 3:30 to inform him she would be going to the arts workshop at her university, where her shift would start soon. Nico strangely found he couldn’t sleep anymore, so he settled for listening to his new audio lesson in bed, trying to stay focused. It actually worked for half an hour; then the nausea hit and he holed himself up in the bathroom.

He emerged from the door almost an hour later, showered – he _hated_ feeling filthy, even if he was on his death-bed – and with his stomach in another dimension.

Will would be there in some minutes and Nico had never felt so agitated about it, not even the first times. They were going to be alone, and that had never happened. Not that he would be able to do much, in his current state, and, as he’d said earlier, Will was coming just to make him feel better. It was just a friendly gesture that Nico didn’t want to misunderstand.

He went to fetch his mobile in his room, then stumbled to the living room, plopping down face first into the cushions of his sofa. He was starting to get hungry, but he didn’t trust his stomach not to betray him and reject everything, so he waited for Will and his atrocities.

He’d nearly fallen asleep again when he heard the bell ring. He considered just staying there, sprawled on his couch, so that the other boy either would’ve broken in through the window or would’ve judged Nico as a lost cause.

Then he reminded himself that he liked Will too much to push him away like that. He was well past that, now. So he got his ass off the comfort of the cushions, his mind cloudy, and dragged himself over to the entryway, tripping over his own feet multiple times. After what must’ve been a minute, he finally succeeded in reaching for the handle and opening the door.

“You look terrible,” was the first thing Will said.

Nico thought his golden voice was the best medicine he could ask for and didn’t even cringe at himself. “Thanks,” he slurred instead, stepping back and almost falling backwards.

“Bed or couch?” Will asked as he put down some bags on the wooden table in the kitchen.

Nico promptly responded by heading over to said couch and slumping over it in the exact same position as before.

“Thermometer? How long ago have you measured your temperature?” More rustling and sounds of paper and plastic.

“Bedside table. Dunno,” he mumbled. “Hazel did it.”

Will snorted. “I’ll be there in a second, you big baby.”

Something about being called _baby_ by Will made him a mushy, grinning idiot. The tiny rational part still present in his brain told him to get it together and act like an adult. The sick part, which definitely had the upper hand in the contest, suggested he ask Will to call him _baby_ again. Luckily Will wasn’t there to listen.

He barely felt a stick-like object being placed into his hand.

“Use it. I’ll be over there cooking. Call me if you need anything, okay?” Will brushed his fingers over his forehead, moving some dark locks away, the cool touch making Nico sigh in contentment. “Don’t get up on your own and rest.”

Nico zoned out for a while, not quite sleeping. Next thing he knew, Will was gently jostling him, trying to make room for himself.

“Hey, you couch-hogger, move a little,” he whispered.

Nico grunted in annoyance, feeling the cushion his head was on dip under another weight. Will may have been a pre-med student, but he knew nothing of comfortable positions. It took all of his strength to lift his head and shoulder and scuffle back to where he’d been, his head dropping on someone’s thighs. Will’s thighs.

In normal circumstances, he would’ve noticed the choked sound Will let out, as well as the screaming from his rational side, by now long forgotten, to _fucking halt_. Instead, he curled up in a fetal position, his left cheek pressed against Will’s thigh. He resisted the urge to use it as a _real_ pillow, meaning hugging it, too.

“Uh.” Will’s voice sounded an octave higher, the gold in Nico’s mind burning brighter. “Can I watch some Netflix?”

Nico hummed. “Remote’s in the basket over there.”

He vaguely registered some noise and movements. He may have imagined the hand weaving through his hair, because as soon as he heard the opening song of some anime, his mind went blank and he fell into a deep sleep.

“Hey, sleeping beauty.”

The first thing Nico thought was, _I wanna wake up like this every day_. The second, once his senses came back and he could feel the pain in his neck, was, _Or maybe I don’t_. He groaned, trying to roll onto his back. First, he realized he was on his sofa, so there wasn’t that much space to roll around. Then he recognized his pillow as a _not-pillow_. It definitely was bonier and warmer, and pillows weren’t normally covered in jeans. Still, he was too sleep-addled to panic, so he just grunted again and tried sitting up.

“Good morning,” Will said, helping him up.

“’s morning?” He almost winced at his own voice. His headache had dulled, but the pain in his joints made up for it.

Will laughed and Nico thought that, at least, he was dying as a happy man. “It’s, like, barely 6 in the evening. But I don’t want to set your house on fire and my legs were going in gangrene.”

Nico blushed in shame. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I didn’t even ask if you were okay with—”

“You dummy.” He flicked him on the forehead as he stood. “What would’ve I said? _No, you can’t put your head on my lap. Go sleep on the floor_? ”

“But still—”

“Nope.”

“Sorry if I was trying to be considerate,” Nico grumbled, sprawling on the couch until his lower half was practically all over the floor. “You’re so kind, Will. You’re basically Jesus.”

“More sarcasm and my lap will be off limits,” Will warned him.

“Fine with me.” It was fine with his neck, maybe, but definitely not with him.

“And no soup,” he added joyfully.

Nico’s stomach chose that moment to growl boldly, serving his defeat to Will on a silver platter. “You’re a pain in the ass.”

“Says the guy who drooled all over my jeans while I was trying to watch _Haikyuu!!_. Now, go wash your hands and sit at the table.”

“Sure, mom.”

Nico followed the doctor’s orders, while Will poured his apparently miraculous broth into two bowls. Why he would want to eat that thing despite being perfectly healthy, Nico couldn’t figure.

Albeit hungry, he still felt a faint sense of nausea he hoped wouldn’t manifest itself later. At this point he and Will were quite loose around each other, yes, but that didn’t mean he wanted to puke his organs out in front of him.

As he entered the kitchen again, after his hand-washing trip to the bathroom, the scent of vegetables and chicken hit him. It actually wasn’t that terrible; nonetheless, he gagged, saying, “Ew”.

“Anya’s a better patient than you. And she’s seven.” Will took a seat next to Nico, handing him a spoon.

He shrugged. “You can’t have everything. Consider me as training. Surely there are worse patients than me.” He blew on his soup to make it cool a little. “Like, aren’t old men impossible to deal with?”

“I’m dealing with one right now, and my answer is yes.”

“I thought I was a _big baby_?”

Will forced Nico’s spoon into his mouth. “You’re a lot of things. Now shut up and eat. You’re welcome.”

Dinner wasn’t awful. McDonald’s was unbeatable, but Will’s chicken soup came to a close second in his top three food to eat when sick. That may have been due to Will’s presence, too, but weren’t meal a full package? He didn’t think he would ever agree with the common saying that meals are better enjoyed in company, because he liked eating on his own while listening to some audiobook or show, but his feelings for Will were a constant surprise.

After dinner, with his stomach full, Will had made him take some medicines, whose names Nico didn’t know, but they were sort of working since he still didn’t have compelling need to seclude himself in the bathroom. Now, they were slotted in against each other in the couch, Nico answering all the texts he’d received from his friends, Will continuing his show.

“Piper says you have good taste,” Nico informs him, detaching his phone from his ear after having listened to his friend’s vocal message.

“Mh? What?”

Nico guessed that Will was watching an important part, because he heard screaming – mostly from the same two characters –, but then again it wasn’t that uncommon.

“Piper, she says _Haikyuu!!_ is _the best_ and that you have _taste_.”

Will snorted. “Yeah, I know. Also, tell her we _have_ to meet.”

“I see what you’re doing, Solace. Looking for a new person to _fanboy_ with and getting rid of me.” He edged away from Will. “Sure. Go ahead.”

Will rolled his eyes. “If you weren’t so talented in music, I would’ve suggested you try drama. Piper’s dad would have some competition, finally.”

“’So talented in music’?” Nico teased him, repressing the urge to grin like an idiot.

“Like you don’t know it,” Will mocked him, finally pausing his show. “Your perfect pitch or whatever, and the fact that you basically sleep with your piano… You’re a fucking genius.”

Nico lost enough time to make any witty retort useless. He got complimented a lot, he had a lot of trophies, but being called a genius by Will didn’t quite equal, albeit Will had no musical knowledge whatsoever. He felt something stirring in his stomach and he knew it wasn’t his dinner.

Before he could say anything, though, Will spoke up again. “Since you’re obviously feeling better, you can help me with the dishes. Come on.”

Nico had groaned and whined profusely, but in the end his only job was to dry the dishes with a cloth. He still complained. He was consistent that way.

They remained in silence for a bit, just focusing on their task and the way their hands and hips sometimes touched. The whole evening felt so domestic and cozy to Nico, he just wished for the time to slow down. Not to freeze: he still wanted to walk forward and experience and get to know so many things, but he also longed to savour these precious moments. While he was aware that Will would not flee or just stop talking to him, a tiny, twisted side of him still feared the other boy didn’t really care about him. Why would he? Most of their encounters were forced by the circumstances.

Then Nico reminded himself, again and again, that it was Will who asked to come today.

“Hazel’s not here today?” Will suddenly asked.

Nico shook his head, drying the last spoon. “Nope, on Thursdays she’s at the workshop till 7 and then she just goes home. She was here this morning, though.”

“Workshop?”

“Yeah, she helps her professor with some restorations. She apparently is an art genius or something.”

“So it runs in the family.”

Nico grinned, ducking his head to hide his blushing cheeks. At worst, he could blame his fever. “More like it was destiny that we met.”

Will didn’t say anything, just leaned his back against the counter. Nico heard the tap stop running.

He put everything in their place and threw the cloth somewhere. Now he just wanted to go back to the couch and enjoy the last hours of Will’s freedom.

Nico opened his mouth to speak; Will, however, beat him to it.

“Was she your only friend?” His voice was soft, soothing. The one you use when you’re dealing with a jumpy, scared animal. “At the orphanage, I mean.”

Nico instantly tensed up and his relaxed expression morphed into one that didn’t let out anything. It was a knee reaction, he couldn’t help it: he didn’t like talking about the orphanage, even though it was where he met Hazel.

On the other hand, he felt the compelling urge to open up to Will. The blond undoubtedly had a trust-worthy aura, almost like you could see him in the street and know immediately that you could say anything to him without feeling judged. But it wasn’t only that. Nico wanted to actually get closer to him; as much as their bickering and natural talking were fun, he also wanted to establish an emotional connection with him. That desire was a feat by itself, because he hadn’t felt it in years.

Nico took a deep breath and levelled his voice, willing his shoulders to unwind. “Yes. I was already blind and she’s black.” He shrugged. “Kids can be mean. The nuns didn’t really care. They actually were kinda scared of me,” he remembered, refraining himself from snorting in irony.

“Of you?” Will said incredulously, like he was the least intimidating person he knew.

“I… kinda was a loose mine when I arrived at the orphanage. Losing your mother, your sister and your sight all at once is one hell of a trauma when you’re thirteen, and I coped with it as well as I could, I guess.” As soon as he said the last sentence, he felt a huge weight be lifted from over his chest. He exhaled loudly and tried for a smile, subtly telling Will he was over it by now.

“They should’ve helped,” Will affirmed strongly. “It’s not like anyone would’ve responded to that better than you. Your reaction was totally valid, you weren’t just some ‘loose mine’.”

It was probably the first time Nico had heard Will sound so serious, maybe even angry. He hadn’t expected that reaction from him.

“And…” Will continued with a softer tone. “I’m sorry about your family.”

Nico didn’t know Wil was reaching across the space between them until he felt a hand squeezing his wrist and dropping a moment after. He almost gave in to the impulse of searching for his hand again, because this was Will and that touch, albeit fleeting, had infused him with so much warmth he felt like glowing. But also, he was Nico, and physical contact didn’t come easy to him.

“And if you give me those kids’ names…” Will shrugged, his tone heavy with irony. “Well, just know I’m already pretty good with a scalpel.”

That managed to make Nico crack up a small laugh, in spite of the overwhelming emotions flowing through him. “Is that allowed in the Hippocratic Oath?”

“Actually, I think Hippocrates may agree with me.”

Nico shook his head amusedly and made a beeline for the couch. Maybe it was his confession or maybe it was his sickness, but his head was starting to spin and he couldn’t even locate where Will’s voice was coming from. “Why don’t you ask him?” he asked mockingly – with a hint of fondness, because Will was an idiot and Nico couldn’t believe he’d managed to make him laugh after he had unloaded part of his past on him.

“Mh,” Will hummed like he was actually thinking it over. “I might ask Apollo later. I mean, he _was_ the god of medicine. And a damn good healer in _Mythomagic_.”

Nico whipped his head around so fast he nearly lost balance.

“Whoa there,” Will said in an alarmed tone, stabilizing him with a hand on his shoulder.

“No, no, wait.” Nico put a hand up. “You played _Mythomagic_?”

“Don’t insult me.” Will sounded indeed offended. “I _still_ play _Mythomagic_.”

“Wait.”

“Not going anywhere.”

Nico glared at him, regaining his footing and plopping down on the sofa. “I mean, they don’t sell the cards and figurines anymore. Where do you get them?”

Will snorted. “Bold of you to think that I ever threw them.”

“And you have someone to play it with.”

“Cecil usually cheats, but Lou Ellen always notices and she makes him drop it.” He sighed like he was recounting stories about a war he had fought in, sitting on the couch beside Nico. “Then she kicks both our asses. I swear, I haven’t won a game in— I don’t know, a year? Two years? That’s really homophobic of her.”

Nico snapped his fingers on Will’s arm. “She’s a lesbian and you’re dramatic.”

“Look who’s talking.”

“You’re sidetracking me. You said you play _Mythomagic_.”

“I did,” Will confirmed sunnily.

Nico smirked. “Buckle up,” he warned, willing himself up, even with his headache complaining. “I’m, like, the king of that game. I haven’t played in eight years, so I’m a bit rusty, but I’ll still kick your ass.”

He never knew he would have to dust his old collection, and it would take him a while to get back into the drill without actually seeing the cards, but he had been obsessed with the game. He could recognize every card and figure by smell, too, if he wanted– though he wasn’t willing to try this time around.

“We’ll see, Signor _Mythomagic_ ,” he teased as he followed him.

“It’s _si-gnor_ , not _sig-nor_ ,” Nico corrected just to be annoying.

“Whatever, Debbie Downer.”

“Okay, I prefer _Sig-nor Mythomagic_.”

“You don’t understand, Lou,” Will lamented on his phone. “He’s a _monster_.”

Nico scoffed in disbelief. “Nah, you’re just really bad.”

“Lou, you know I’m not bad.”

Judging from the offended tone he later used, Lou Ellen, on the other end of the call, had in fact told him he _was_ bad.

“You’re _both_ monsters. I don’t wanna be your friend anymore,” he sulkily declared. He still didn’t hang up.

The word _friend_ caused a fuzzy explosion in the pit of Nico’s stomach, though, again, it could be the virus. You never know when you’re ill. Or you never know when you have actually been feeling like this for several hours, like Nico had been. The last five minutes had been particularly challenging, since Will had called his friend Lou Ellen to complain. He’d just started with, “Hey, I’ve been playing _Mythomagic_ with Nico for the past hour and I haven’t won a single game. The world is cruel and unfair.” He didn’t even introduce Nico, meaning his friends already knew him. Or they were accustomed to him mentioning random names. Nico personally preferred the first possibility.

After a minutes or so of more bickering, Will ended the call, saying that he’d interrupted Lou Ellen’s studying session.

“I hadn’t played in _years_ ,” he reminded Will, just to rub it in. “I even had to touch the entire cards deck again.” Nico couldn’t see it, but he was sure the other boy was glaring at him from where he was seated on the floor. They had played in his room on the parquet, but now Nico was on his bed again. His butt had priorities.

“I hate you.”

“Next time I can teach you how to, like, actually play. You had Dionysus in your hand the whole time and you didn’t even use him.”

Will shrugged, crossing his arms. “Don’t like his power. Who even chose to include a power like inflicting madness on your enemy in a game for children? Isn’t Dionysus the wine dude? Didn’t he kinda invent the dildo? He sounds much cooler like this.”

“Yeah, why didn’t they include alcohol and dildos in a game for children?” Nico snorted.

“Still cooler.”

“He’s the god of grapes, though,” Nico mused. “Maybe some immobilizing with vines? But that’s Demeter’s power.”

Will laughed and got up. Probably his ass was tired of the floor, too. “Do you have a PhD in _Mythomagic_? Is that why you’re so damn good?”

Nico was pretty sure he felt his cheeks heating up. “Everyone had a Greek mythology phase growing up. It’s science.”

“Yeah?” Will chuckled, sitting at the edge of Nico’s bed, beware of his personal space. “I guess I’m an exception.”

He gaped at Will. “You mean you liked _Mythomagic_ and weren’t obsessed with every Greek mythology media there is? Tell me you’ve read _The song of Achilles_. Please.”

Will arched his eyebrows. “I… don’t think I have?” he said, unsure.

“This is treachery.” Nico got up, heading for the tiny bookshelf he had in his room, the one he used for old books he read when he hadn’t still lost his sight. He knew exactly where that book was.

“I think I’ve seen it somewhere on the internet, though?” Will continued with a slightly apologetic tone.

Nico took the worn out book, the cover dusty and thin. He felt the pages with his fingertips, a knot swelling in his throat, and, in the spur of the moment, turned around and reached out with his arm towards Will. “You have to read it.”

Will examined it for a few seconds in silence, then gently took it out of his hand. “It’s written,” Will noted.

“Yes,” Nico mumbled, in a somewhat manic state. He hadn’t touched that book in years, and now he was lending it to a person he had known for only a few months.

“Is it that good?” Will asked, taking the hint that Nico didn’t want to talk about the book’s history.

“It is.” The next words just flowed out of his mouth on their own. “Wanna read it together?” he rambled. He wished he could blame the frantic pace of his heart on his sickness.

Will didn’t answer immediately and, for a moment, Nico considered to actually punch himself.

“Of course.” Will sounded positively like his smile could power an entire city and that put an end to Nico’s masochistic impulses. “I mean, yeah, of course I wanna. Next Wednesday works for you? Roughly same hour? I can text you later about it.”

Nico didn’t even think about it. “Yeah, sure. Next Wednesday works.”

His and Will’s chat now mostly consisted of Greek mythology memes and puns Will sent Nico at every hour of the day – and night. Once, Will had sent him an incorrect quote at midnight, but Nico had only replied at 2 in the morning. After a few minutes, Will had asked him why he’d been up so late and had told him it was unhealthy. He had responded with a bunch of question marks, texting, _you’re awake too what’s your point_. Will had only said that he himself was allowed because of his doctor’s note. He was his own doctor, apparently. Nico had wondered if he, too, could have a doctor’s note, but Will had cryptically replied, _we’ll see_.

Besides, they had agreed to meet up on Wednesday. Nico had recovered by Saturday – _see, that’s why viruses are better. you don’t need antibiotics and you’re ready to rise and shine in like three days. i love viruses_ , Will had texted him, to which Nico had just said, _you’re weird_ –, so he spent the next days by making up for the time lost. On Monday he gave lessons to his two other students, on Tuesday he met with Anya and bickered with Will.

Nico had barely had time to panic about their reading session – certainly not a date –, but, now that he had finished his lesson with a kid for the day, he surely felt an unnerving anticipation build up in his chest. He still had to wait for another half an hour or so, therefore he decided to sit at the piano. There was nothing that calmed him better than playing. He was already warmed up by the few demonstrations he had showed to his student. He began to play and got lost in a world of sounds and colours.

Until the deep blue he was producing was teared by the sharp shrill of the doorbell. He took a deep breath and headed for the entrance.

“Were you playing?” was the first thing Will said when Nico opened the door.

“Hi,” Nico greeted first, letting Will enter. “Yeah. Thought the walls were soundproof, but then again, this apartment is crap.”

“Nah,” Will disagreed without actually arguing back. “But the walls are kinda soundproof, I barely heard anything, but I could recognize the piano.”

“You have a musician ear, then, Solace.”

“Of course. I can do a very mean whistle.”

Nico laughed as he reached for the book he had left on the sofa earlier. He had taken off the bookmark near the end of the book. He didn’t want Will to ask him anything, though honestly he wanted to talk about it with him. Just… taking his time. “Please don’t. Then _I_ ’d lose my musician ear.”

Will snorted. “As if.”

Nico handed the book to Will. They sat down on the couch, moving until they were leaning on each armrest, their thighs and legs touching sometimes. Nico wanted to say that didn’t affect him in the least, but if he were being honest, even with the warm weather, Will’s own warmth was much appreciated.

“So,” Will started, flipping some pages, “does this follow the original story?”

“As far as I know, yeah,” Nico replied, but didn’t really elaborate on his uncertainty. “I mean, Achilles and Patroclus weren’t actually canon in the _Iliad_ , but they could as well have been.”

“So Homer was a coward,” Will noted with a grin. “And there’ll be waterworks.”

Nico smirked. “He and most of the historians, too. And yep, lots of waterworks. Buckle up.”

Then he heard Will flip the pages some more till he settled on one, presumably the first. Nico closed his eyes and the world fell to total darkness. Will cleared his voice, although at first Nico assumed he’d done it just because he was his usual dramatic.

“My father was a king and the son of kings,” Will read, and Nico understood why he had cleared his throat. It was like he had to make the last white clouds go away to let the sun shine unfiltered.

After that, there was only a world of gold and sunlight.

When Will interrupted his narration because his throat was apparently dying, Nico came back from his trance-like state. He found himself feeling calmer than he’d ever felt in _years_. Maybe as calm as he was when he was thirteen and Bianca had started reading this same book to him.

It was almost painful returning to the real world, when for an hour and a half he’d stayed in a Greek myth with a background of rich brightness.

Will helped himself to two cups of water – “I told you, my throat is dying” –, while Nico opened a bottle of lemonade, which in Will’s opinion couldn’t be called lemonade because there weren’t actual lemons in there. Nico shrugged, but then Will promised to give him some of his homemade lemonade – _holy shit_ , he actually made homemade lemonade. At that point, Nico only blushed and hid his smile in his so-called lemonade.

“Patroclus is cute,” Will commented during their break.

“He’s a soft bean. Must protect.”

Will chuckled. “Can’t wait to see him whipped for Achilles.”

“Achilles is, like, completely gone for him.” Nico smiled, remembering how he used to gush about them to Bianca.

“Yeah, quite literally.”

Nico pouted. “That hurt,” he said, and for good measure, he punched Will’s arm.

Will snickered, lifting one shoulder in a shrug. “I say it’s a coping mechanism,” he justified himself.

Making himself comfortable against the armrest again, Nico said, “Can’t wait to watch you use this _coping mechanism_ at the end.”

During their break, they had ordered some pizza for later, so they kept reading for another hour till dinner arrived.

Will had let out a small shrieking sound when Patroclus had kissed Achilles for the first time and Nico had laughed so hard he’d almost fallen off the couch. He’d also said, “Yeah, mood”.

At some point, Nico had shifted his attention to Will’s voice and nothing else. The words that flowed out of his mouth were golden liquid taking shape into sentences. He never maintained a single tone and, after too much time reading, he stumbled onto most words. Nico didn’t care about that. Will could have started talking about his grocery store list and he would’ve listened.

So, when the pizza arrived, Nico nearly flipped off the delivery man. Then he remembered he was delivering pizza and he offered a small upturn of his lips.

Returning with pizza, Nico heard that Will was moving around, too.

“What are you doing?” Nico asked, putting the cartons down on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“Getting drinks and tissues like civilized people? Also, off to the bathroom. Go wash your hands.”

Nico snorted. “You’re ridiculous. I’m tempted to not do it just to spite you.”

Will just headed for the bathroom without him. “Enjoy your germs, Death Boy.”

“Germs are my friends,” Nico said, still following Will to the bathroom. “And don’t call me Death Boy, Sunshine.” As soon as the nickname rolled off his tongue, Nico noticed how little it sounded like a joke and how much an actual pet name.

Will momentarily stopped. “Sunshi—”

“That’s totally an insult,” Nico spluttered, feeling his face heating up, down to his neck.

Will resumed his short trip to the restroom. “Sure.”

Nico’s raging blush reached his ears as he noted the grin in Will’s fond tone. And yet, he couldn’t fight off a small smile of his own.

They finished their pizza watching some episodes of _Brooklyn 99_. It was still pretty early, but Nico didn’t know if Will had a shift that night.

“Wanna keep reading now?” Will asked and cleared Nico’s doubts, while the both of them were cleaning the coffee table.

Nico hummed an affirmative and, after that, they disposed of cartons and glass bottles in silence. Then they plopped down on the couch again.

Before Will could start reading again, Nico spoke up. “You know,” he whispered softly, like a confession. “You _really_ have a sunshiny voice.”

“Mh?” Will closed the book. “How?”

“The colour. I can see the colour of sounds. Your voice is golden, like the sun.”

“Synesthesia?” Will whispered, too, as if they were telling each other a secret.

“Yeah. Chromoesthesia, in particular.” Nico leaned his head on the backrest, retreating his knees towards himself.

“Wow,” Will mumbled. “That’s amazing. _You_ ’re amazing.”

Nico smiled wistfully, almost a grimace, as a shiver went down his spine. “Bianca – my… my sister –, her voice was this colour. It wasn’t grey, but it wasn’t silver. Depended on her tone, really. She read to me a lot, even though I could read, too, but I liked her voice.” He took a deep breath. “This… this book was the last she read to me.” He laughed humourlessly, passing a hand on his face. “I had come out to her a few months before and she gave me this for my thirteenth birthday. We didn’t even finish it. She… died and I lost my sight. A car incident.”

He felt the cushions of the sofa move with the weight of Will. His hand was suddenly in Will’s hand, warmer and rougher than his. Will squeezed it; not lightly, but with vigour. Like Nico was the most alive, strong person he’d ever known.

“I’m sorry,” Will said.

Nico nodded and squeezed his hand in return. A lump in his throat was threatening to burst like a dam and he didn’t want to cry. Not right now.

“Do— do you want to finish it with me?” Will asked in a lower, shier tone.

Nico, even though he was now at peace with his almost total blindness, still often wished he could see again. He wished he could see art – he’d always loved Impressionism paintings and had cried countless nights knowing he couldn’t marvel at them anymore –, landscapes, music sheets. He wished he could talk to Hazel and know what she looked like, not only _felt_ like. He wished, maybe superficially, he could watch anime with Piper. He’d wished he could stare at Will, take in every tiny trait, without having to touch him.

And though he knew he would always wish for more, as human nature dictated, Nico thought that Will’s sheepish voice, a pallid but consistent yellow, was enough.

Thursday passed and they agreed on seeing each other on Wednesday again. They both wanted to plan the next reading session a bit earlier, but it turned out that two adults with mildly busy schedules rarely had overlapping free time slots.

Nico, for the most part, focused on mundane chores. Going to the grocery store, cleaning the apartment, doing some boring assignment for his class about music history. Jason and Leo dragged him along to choose their birthday gifts for Piper on Saturday.

“Her birthday’s, like, a month away. What’s your problem.”

“She’s my girlfriend,” Jason answered.

“And she’s my boyfriend’s girlfriend,” Leo added, like Nico didn’t know. “Also, she’s turning twenty-two. You only turn twenty-two once.”

Nico snorted. “You only turn _every age_ once, you idiot.”

“Yeah,” Leo said as he scanned some surfing equipment. “But Taylor Swift didn’t make a song about being thirty-seven, but she _did_ make a song about being twenty-two. So it’s special.”

“Because of Taylor Swift,” Nico deadpanned. He didn’t even like her much.

“See, you get it.” Then he made a beeline for the surfing tables, probably looking for one with stylized flames on it.

After patting Nico on the shoulder sympathetically, Jason let out an enamoured sigh.

Nico grimaced. “You’re so gross.”

Later, when Leo had bought Piper some weird, expensive surfing accessories and Jason had got absolutely nothing, as they were strolling by a park, looking for a frozen yogurt place, Nico received a text. He obviously had every group chat muted, so it must’ve been someone seeking him. After fishing his phone out of his jacket pocket, he asked Siri whose text it was.

“Will Solace,” Siri responded.

Leo perked up at that name. _Damn it_. “So your boyfriend.”

Nico flipped him off. “He’s not my boyfriend.” His mobile dinged again in the hand that wasn’t holding his walking stick.

“Yeah, yeah,” Leo sing-songed, moving his hand like he was swatting a fly. “You were on a date, like, three days ago.”

“We literally just read a book.”

“He held your hand.”

Nico snapped his head to Jason, who was walking at his right. “You told him!”

“Uhm,” Jason said sheepishly, no doubt scratching the back of his head. “I didn’t think it was important?”

“It—” Nico bit his tongue. “It isn’t. It was for just a second!” His phone went off again.

“Sure,” Leo said with the voice of someone who clearly didn’t believe him. “Now reply to your boyfriend.”

Nico glared at the general direction where Leo’s voice was coming from. “Shut up or I’ll kill you, Valdez.”

As he listened to the robotic tone reading the messages, Nico frowned. Will was asking him to help him babysit Anya, since she’d apparently been asking for him all afternoon. They were at some park and Anya was threatening to give Will a heart attack with the height she was reaching on the swing.

“Nico?” Jason turned towards him, who had been left behind a bit. “What’s up?”

Nico licked is lips. He considered what would happen were he to say what Will had asked of him: Leo would tease him endlessly and would write about it on the groupchat. Then everyone, except maybe for Frank, would tease him endlessly. They were so going to say he and Will were some married couple and Anya their kid. Nico hated his friends.

“Uhm,” he hesitated, eventually stopping in his tracks. “Will needs something. Nothing to worry about, but it’s urgent.”

“Okay?” Jason was obviously not convinced, but knew better than to pry.

A striking difference from his boyfriend. “What is it?” Leo demanded, curious.

“Nothing, seriously,” Nico said, shaking his head. “I just have to go. Guess I’ll have to take the sub.”

“Oh my God.” Leo gasped dramatically and Nico knew he was covering his mouth with his hand. “He’s dropping us for his boyfriend already. They really grow up fast, darling.”

“Please, don’t call me ‘darling’,” Jason said with a pained tone.

“And Will’s not my boyfriend. Also, you’re younger than me, Valdez.”

“By, like, five months. Technicalities.”

“Yeah, okay,” Jason interrupted them, taking a few steps towards Nico. “It’s no problem, dude. Just be careful.”

Nico was aware that his friend only meant well. That didn’t make his mom tone less irritating. “Yeah, sure. Go enjoy your date.”

Jason smiled and clapped his shoulder. “Tell me how it goes.”

“As long as you don’t snitch to your boyfriend,” he said, frowning. “He’s insufferable.”

“One of my many qualities,” gloated Leo. “Love you, too, Emo Boy. Use protection!”

Nico cringed, whereas Jason only rolled his eyes affectionately. “I’m trying not to kill him for your sake, but I might just slip.”

“Yeah, I’m very grateful for that.” Jason sounded serious. “Now, off you go!”

Nico’s lips lifted a bit in spite of himself. “Yeah,” he said as he turned back, towards the direction of the nearest station. “Bye, you idiots.”

Nico thought Will should have asked for his presence even if Anya hadn’t done it herself. Granted, he wasn’t that helpful, but anything that managed to stop that little pest for just a little was help. Anya was always running and cartwheeling and hanging off branches and bars like a monkey. It was as if her batteries never ran out, like she was constantly charged 100%. Nico wished he could be like that, too.

Will, upon learning he’d arrived by sub, had offered to drop him off with his car later. Nico was jittery riding in a car, but he’d conquered his trauma-induced fear long ago, so he’d accepted. Maybe he also wanted to ride in Will’s car.

As they walked, looking for a good ice-cream place, it dawned upon him that this was the first time he and Will met outside of his home, his comfort zone. This was the first time Will saw Nico using a walking stick, that had to match his slow pace and watched him stumble on some pits in the ground.

Nico was telling Will what Leo had chosen for Piper’s birthday and how Jason was panicking, even though her birthday was still more than a month away.

“I want to meet her someday,” Will decided. “She seems cool.”

Nico smirked. “Trust me, you’re already her best friend. When she talks about her favourite anime she always sighs and says that you’d understand her.”

Will laughed, warming him more than the sun ever could. “I _so_ would.”

They reached a café that made ice-cream and Will deemed it worthy of their presence. Anya dove into her chocolate ice-cream, followed by her uncle, who had some strawberry, too.

“What’d you take?” Will asked Nico as he came out of the café.

“Pistachio and hazelnut,” he answered, pleased. The ice-cream was decent, considering they were in New York, and he never denied himself some ice-cream.

“You’re so Italian.”

“I literally _am_ Italian, Solace.” He propped himself up on a stool after having helped Anya. “And for your information, the gelato there is on a totally other level. This is, like, garbage if you compare them.”

“Wait,” Will said, leaning on the table on an elbow, stuffing himself in the meanwhile. “You actually went to Italy?”

Nico’s brow furrowed. “I grew up there?” he explained hesitantly, puzzled. “Didn’t I tell you?”

“No, you didn’t!” Will exclaimed with a tone excited like a puppy when it was fed. “You _have_ to tell me all about it! Where were you born? Where did you grow up? Do Italians really speak that fast?”

Nico smiled. “To the last one, no. Americans speak way faster.”

“Seriously?” Will actually sounded deflated. “My whole world fell apart. I can’t live anymore.”

Nico snorted, shaking his head. “Drama queen,” he mumbled under his breath, then ate some more ice-cream. “By the way, I was born and grew up in Venice. I always went to Sicily for summer holidays, though. I think I had some aunt there, but I barely remember her.”

“You’re so cool,” Will said in his southern accent, “and here I am, just a Texan boy.” After Nico flipped him off, he laughed and went back to the topic. “Wait, I know where Venice is, but where’s Sicily?”

Nico pouted, offended. There was no reason why an American guy would know where Sicily was, but that place held so many memories of his and Bianca’s childhood that he felt that the small region should be known by everybody. “It’s this island at, like, the feet of the country. Mount Etna, most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen, boiling heat in the summer? Basically that.”

“And gelato,” Will provided, amused.

Nico sighed wistfully. “Don’t even get me started on that. They have this thing called _brioche_ , you know? It’s like sweet, soft bread.” He gesticulated, making a round figure with his hand the size of a big fist. “Okay, take that. And stuff it _full_ of ice-cream. Like, really fucking full. I could’ve eaten just that all summer.”

“I have no doubts, since you can apparently live for a month with just McDonald’s.”

They went on bantering lightly, and Nico couldn’t help but glow with contentedness. Things were not weird just because they were out of his apartment, even if it looked – and felt – like a date. Nico was learning to enjoy the easiness of his and Will’s relationship like few other things in the world. He could do this forever, he thought. Just soak in the sunlight that oozed from the other boy’s voice.

As Anya hopped down from her stool after having devoured her serving, Nico got to his feet, too. He took the little girl’s hand, listening to her ramble about school and smiling fondly.

“Hey,” Will called softly. “You have a bit of ice-cream here.”

Nico brought a hand to his face, where it hovered uselessly. “Where?”

And really, he should have known it. It’s not like Will could have shown him where he was smudged with gelato.

Nico should have expected it, the warm, calloused pad of Will’s thumb sweeping just over his lips’ bow. Fact is, he did not.

“Here,” Will said matter-of-factly, like Nico’s heart hadn’t just leapt to his throat.

Nico couldn’t see him, but suddenly he could feel him in front of him. His voice, his body heat, his chocolate-scented breath.

“Uh,” Nico croaked intelligently, completely paralyzed in place. After another beat, “Thank you.”

Will beamed. Nico couldn’t admire it, but he could feel it in Will’s voice when he said something Nico didn’t register.

Nico certainly couldn’t fly, but he was sure that was how Icarus would have felt. Reaching for the sun, being embraced by its warmth, not caring if he could get burned. Totally trusting in it and longing for more, desiring its scorching touch.

As he listened vaguely to Will and his niece talk about how good the ice-cream was, Nico thought that he was also certain that this sun in particular would not let him fall.

Nico had complained when Will had offered to walk him up to the door of the palace where his small apartment was, but he actually enjoyed the attention. Anya came with them.

As Nico bent down enough for Anya to be able to plant a kiss on his cheek, she spoke up.

“Thank you for making uncle smile,” she said and kissed him with a funny sound.

Nico corrugated his eyebrows. “Uh, you’re welcome?” he answered, turning his face up towards Will.

“Erm.” Oh. Will sounded shy, like he was flushing. Nico liked when his voice took that colour. “The last few days haven’t been… the best, I guess. She’s right, though. You two made my day.” Now he was undoubtedly smiling. Nico _loved_ Will’s voice when he smiled.

Nico offered a thin smile, too. He felt like he was glowing for everyone to see. “Of course. Will,” he tasted his name slowly, “I know they’re just words and all, but… I mean it. When you need me, I’m here. To talk or, you know, just be there.”

Then Will hugged him. He didn’t tackle him, he just took Nico shoulders at first. Once he realized Nico would not push him away, he gently fitted himself against him, his chin coming to rest on Nico’s shoulder.

 _So he’s really taller than me_ , Nico thought dimly, ending with his face squashed against Will’s chest. Then it came down on him what was actually happening. Will was hugging him. Okay. What did you do in a hug? Keep still until your senses return and you regain control of your body? That seemed the easiest choice, but Nico was quite sure that was not the appropriate way to respond to an embrace.

Thanks to the thousands hugs by Hazel, Jason and Reyna in smaller quantities, his brain was by now hardwired to this. Perhaps later he would even thank Jason for it. Yet now his arms reached up to Will’s back and rested there, not really squeezing him but _embracing_ him.

He didn’t know how much time had passed since Will had hugged him, but he hoped it wasn’t too long. Will held on tighter and Nico’s heart, for the second time that day, threatened to jump out of his chest.

“Thank you, Nico,” Will murmured.

Nico squeezed a bit instinctively upon hearing him. His tone dripped with affection and too much gratitude for what Nico had actually done.

Too early, Will detached himself from him and Nico forced himself to let go. Will’s hand slid across Nico’s arm, squeezing it briefly.

“See you next week.” Will was grinning again.

“Yeah,” he uttered throatily, still dazed. “Bye.”

“Bye, Neeks!” exclaimed Anya, harshly drawing him out of his trance.

He lifted a hand, waving it meekly.

Belatedly, as he stepped into his apartment, he imagined what Anya had thought. Probably that he was as ridiculous and awkward as he felt now.

On Monday his apartment was raided by his own sister and Reyna. He hadn’t seen Reyna in more than two weeks, since this year she was graduating and she had been busy with school and work. Truly, he wasn’t big on hugs, but Reyna’s hugs had always been warm and refreshing, giving him strength. So when he was wrapped in her solid arms, he gladly responded to her embrace.

They’d said they came bearing dinner; little did Nico know that they would mix up who knows which ingredients to cook god knows which dish. Hazel apparently wanted to learn how to make Mexican dishes with the little repertoire Nico kept in his kitchen. He really couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that they were trying to cook new things in his apartment, where he barely had enough ingredients to keep him alive.

But, Nico thought, as long as he didn’t have to do anything, that was okay with him. He hung around in the small kitchen, out of the way not to be a bother to the two girls. Reyna was just recounting what she had done in the past few weeks: work, work, study, work again. She was doing overtime and taking every shift possible at the bar to be free by the end of May. At that point, she would have holed herself up in her room to study, study and study.

Nico commented that it was a fairly good plan, though he was not supported by Hazel. He tried not considering that he would not see Reyna for at least a month, if not to make sure she was alive and eating, because that didn’t sound like a good plan at all.

“What’ve _you_ been up to?” asked Reyna as she was slicing an onion. “Any update on Will?”

Nico flushed. Obviously she had to ask. Perhaps she wasn’t prying like the rest of his friends, but she was equally as curious and interested in his life as the others were. He just shrugged.

“He came over last week,” Hazel answered for him. “Nico was sick for, like, three days and Will insisted on assisting him.”

“You were sick?” Reyna sounded genuinely surprised. “I didn’t know anything.”

Nico pouted, crossing his arms as he leaned on the backrest of a chair. “It’s better that way, trust me. Leo and Piper flooded the group as soon as they knew about Will coming. My gallery is full of memes I can’t even _see_.”

“Gotta catch up, then,” she said it like a betrayal, smirking.

“I hate you.”

“And,” Hazel broke in, continuing her gossip like he had said nothing, “they were on a date or something on Saturday.”

“It wasn’t a date—”

“Tell me about it,” said Reyna in a more serious tone. “I’ll tell you what I think about it. Honest.”

So Nico did. She was his most trusted person, right behind Hazel and beside Jason. He spoke of Will’s text, their comfortable bickering and their talking about a thousand things at once, never finishing topics to touch upon. Of the lazy stroll to the ice-cream place, revived by Anya’s energy, how he told Will about his homeland. Then, shyly and with a blush reaching down to his neck, of that agonizingly sweet moment where Will had pressed his thumb onto the bow of his lips to clean him. Their embrace at the end was only mentioned quickly, for it felt too intimate to him. Like he was supposed to treasure the memory of it, like it could never happen again.

“Nico,” Reyna said earnestly, still with a kind and tentative note, “it sounds like he likes you. I don’t know about romance, you know it, but you’ve been dancing around each other for how much now? Two months? Three months? He could have called anyone the other day, but he wanted you. And he seems a good guy from what you told me.”

Nico shook his head. “Anya asked him for me. _He_ didn’t.”

“Oh, my God.” It was a wonder how she could sound so exasperated even while mixing so skilfully the vegetable and meat in the pan. “He could’ve just brushed it off. Said you were busy. Anya isn’t that capricious.”

“She isn’t,” Hazel confirmed.

“Okay,” Nico conceded, coming behind her to smell the almost finished meal, “but he’s a nice guy. You said it yourself.” He sighed. “Listen, I like him. But I like him as a friend, too. I don’t want to… I don’t know, it sounds cliché. But I don’t want to lose our friendship.”

Hazel bumped their hips together, all the while pouring various sauces into small containers. “You won’t. Even if he doesn’t like you – and he _does_ , he has it written all over him –, he’s not so stupid to cut every tie with you. You’re, like, _really_ friends by now. You almost see him more often than you see me,” she said the last part with an offended hint.

“And,” Reyna added, “if he does cut ties with you, then there you have it. He’s just an idiot and he doesn’t deserve you.”

Nico grunted, going back to the table and plopping down on a chair. “You’re making this too simple. It’ll be _super_ awkward if he rejects me. I don’t want us to feel awkward.”

“No,” Hazel objected strongly, “you’re the one who’s making it too complicated. We’re kinda adults, even if we don’t really feel like it. But, seriously, maybe it’d be awkward for the first days? That’s literally it.”

Reyna turned off the burner. “Also, from what you told me, you are dear to him and he’s pretty stubborn. I doubt he would ever avoid you or something.”

Nico’s shoulders slumped. He felt sapped and a bit hollow. “Yeah, okay, I’ll think about it. Can we eat now?”

On Wednesday, they more or less repeated what they had done last week, except they had ramen for dinner. Nico complained about summer starting soon and how eating ramen would be almost impossible; Will said that _transpiring_ was actually good for his health. Nico poked his arm with a chopstick.

“I don’t know what’s more painful,” Will lamented as accompanied the noodles to his mouth, “the slow burn or the fact that we arrived at the war part.”

Nico blew softly on his bowl with a knowing smirk on his face. “You’ll see it soon, trust me. Now it just goes downhill.”

The blond groaned, prompting Nico’s smirk to widen. “I can’t do this. Seriously, can’t the book just finish here? They lived happy ever after in Chiron’s mountain and that’s it? Can’t Paris just go to horny jail and stay there?”

Nico actually chuckled. “We have half a book left still. Just imagine what happens.”

“You’re just as evil as this writer,” Will accused with a pout.

Nico shrugged. “Trauma has shaped me this way,” he said lightly.

“Let’s hope I won’t be in my emo phase for the rest of my life after this _trauma_ , then.”

“And I’m the mean one here!”

It was late in the evening by now and Will’s voice was hoarse. It had been so for at least an hour, and Nico still couldn’t focus too much on the sense of the words that smoked out of Will’s lips. He was aware of the part he was reading, yet the way Will’s voice fitted into every word was hypnotizing, as well as the golden sunlight, dimming or brightening depending on his tone. Nico could have lived like this for an eternity, never growing tired.

At some point, his voice became darker still. Nico recognized the hoarseness wasn’t due only to weariness, but to emotion, too. Even though Will had been moved by the story countless times, this was the first time Nico heard it so heavy.

Then, Will stopped reading. Nico sat up, alarmed and confused.

“I’m— I’m sorry,” Will croaked, ending with a broken sound.

Nico swore, then and there, Will’s voice in that state was one of the things he hated the most. He frowned. “Hey, what’s up?”

Will let out a sheepish, wet laugh, shaking his head. “I guess… I guess I’m relating a lot to Patroclus. Uhm, too much, maybe. I’m sorry, this is stupid.”

“Fuck you,” Nico replied smartly, “it’s not. If you wanna talk about it, do it.” He nudged Will’s leg with his own, hoping to convey the same warmth the other was always radiating.

Will chuckled wetly again, though a hiccup forced his way out of his mouth. He took a deep, steading breath. “It’s nothing, really. It’s just… Patroclus being a doctor and all. His experience and his helplessness. I feel that, I _know_ those feelings and sensations. It’s, I don’t know, weird to have them pointed out to me. They’re… here. This is exactly what I feel like when I’m volunteering. Like, the volunteering at the ARC. I told you about it, I started around two weeks ago.”

Nico hummed. “I’ve never really thought about it. How stressful it must be for you.”

“I mean,” Will continued, wringing his hands, the book in his lap and his legs outstretched to find Nico’s ones, “it’s not just for me. And I always knew I would be stressed as fuck, watching all this people nearly dying or just hurting, but experiencing it… It’s different. You can do something, ease their pain, today we can save a lot of lives, but not every one of them. And we just have to deal with it.” He sighed, leaning his head sideways on the backrest of the couch where they both were sprawled. “It’s like we’re working with death. Sometimes she comes and takes what she wants, some other times she says, ‘Eh, you can keep it’. It’s… it’s depressing, I guess. But I can’t show it, because I’m supposed to look strong and reassuring and… it’s a lot.” He scoffed. “God, it’s only been two weeks and I’m already like this.”

Nico stayed silent for a bit, waiting for Will to continue and reflecting on what he’d said. “I think,” he spoke up once he understood that Will had stopped there, “how you’re feeling is totally normal. It’s not easy watching people suffer like that and knowing you can only do so much for them. But… I also think that you being there helps a lot. Like, yeah, in general, with all the doctors, but especially with you. You have this comforting aura about you, and I don’t know if this can comfort _you_ , but I’m sure you’ll be an amazing doctor.”

“Thank you,” Will murmured, a hint of a smile in his voice.

“And,” Nico went on, “you don’t have to look strong all the time. You can let go when you need to.” He paused for a second. “I mean, maybe not in a surgery or when you’re using a defibrillator, but you know what I mean. You can vent all you want with me. The work you do is fucking awesome.”

Will snorted at that.

“Hey, I’m being serious here!” Nico grumbled indignantly. “Like, the one thing man does best is destroying. Other men, nature, their own selves, and we’re damn good at it if the world we live in is anything to go by. But you, you heal and you create,” he gesticulated, because he believed in what he was saying with a burning passion, “and that’s _beautiful_ , Will. You’re like a shiny pocket version of a god.”

At that, Will laughed so brightly that Nico felt like he was stepping out into the sunshine after hiding out in the shadows for years. “So I’m like a _Pokémon_ , except I’m a _Pokégod_.”

Nico scowled, trying to reign in the laughter bubbling in his stomach. “Leave it to you to ruin the moment.”

Will let out another giggle, still a bit of emotion left in it. “But really,” he said, his tone so heavy with fondness and relief Nico felt overwhelmed, “thank you.” He found Nico’s hand and covered it with his own. Nico could by now prove scientifically that arrhythmia could be born out of hand-holding. “This means a lot to me.”

Nico hummed, lowering his head in embarrassment. He didn’t move his hand away from beneath Will’s. “’m always here.”

Silence hung above them like a silken blanket. They snugged in it and relished it as if they were tucking themselves in their beds after a long day.

Nico assumed that it was _really_ late now and that Will would have to go home soon if he wanted to get up at his usual ungodly hour tomorrow. Yet he didn’t have the heart of telling him, of shattering the cozy bubble they were wrapped in. He told his brain to shut up and just enjoy the moment, the sweet possibility that what everyone had been repeating restlessly, and that he himself hoped for, could be real.

“Hey,” Will whispered, somehow not snapping him back to reality. “Will you play for me sometime?”

Nico had to take in the request, distancing himself from the colour of Will’s voice and actually understanding what he had said. A lump found its way up his throat. Playing meant laying his emotions raw and bare for everyone to feel and hear. “Yeah, sure,” he said under his breath. “Whenever you want.”

Will beamed, squeezing his hand once and then releasing it. “Next time.”

In that instant, Nico was flooded by the amount of affection he held for this person. Suddenly, his fright subsided. What did he have to fear? His affection came with trust. Nico trusted that Will would not hurt him, not intentionally. It was not a blind trust; to Nico, it was a grounding certainty. The same certainty he saw in Hazel, in Reyna, in Jason and his other friends. He contemplated the beautiful, luminous human being before him, his kindness, his wit, his stubbornness, his drive and ambition to bring people joy, the way he belittled his problems in favour of the others, his funny and a bit too strict doctor mode. Will was easy to love because of his warmth and flaws. Nico was beginning to realize that.

He smiled and lifted his head towards Will’s voice. “Whenever you want,” he repeated.

Will had taken up his offer. Their chat overflowed with his audios, where he mostly rambled about school, work and his volunteering shift on Sunday morning. If Nico was being honest, he was a little scared. Anyone who could wilfully commit themselves to an activity on a Sunday morning had more courage and power than God himself. In an audio, Will narrated how a girl their age – obviously drunk and high – had found twisting a screwdriver into her thigh a nice Saturday night activity. Then he went on about the fact that _fortunately_ she had done it in her outer thigh, otherwise something bad would have happened. Will used some medical terms that Nico couldn’t digest after having just woken up, but that was the gist of it.

Nico’s life went about as usual, studying, giving piano lessons, despairing over his final musical project that was actually coming along pretty smoothly. The melody was there, he just had to refine the last details. He felt a bit guilty when he discovered that Will volunteered on Sunday, while he was currently chilling out at Piper’s villa with all of their group, including Annabeth and Percy, taking advantage of the hot weather. In a couple of weeks he would hole himself up in his apartment to cram and tie the loose ends for his exams, just like everybody else. These were the only moments they could revel in before hell came down on them.

On Tuesday Anya had her lesson and afterwards Will remained for barely half an hour – “I’m doing it just for Hazel’s hot chocolate,” he said.

“We’re in the mid of May, you’re just a masochist,” Nico replied, offended. Will certainly wouldn’t have done it for _his_ hot chocolate.

Hazel told both of them to shut up because her hot cocoa was perfectly drinkable even in July. Nico didn’t object.

The day after, on Wednesday, Will came over just like the other weeks. He arrived bearing ice-cream, which was probably the only way they could cope with the next part of the book. As they continued reading, hours passed; by dinner’s time – dinner that they had not yet ordered nor prepared –, they were both crying.

“I— I don’t deserve this,” Will declared once he finished reading the scene of Patroclus’ dead body brought to Achilles. He closed the book and put it on the coffee table.

Nico hiccupped and whimpered. “I hate this part. I hate my life.” He sat up and hugged his knees, much like Will was doing, too. It had always been a comfortable position to bawl his eyes out.

“I hate them,” Will added for good measure, snivelling. “Why d-did Patroclus do t-that?”

“And Achilles w-was like, _Yeah, I’ll be right over t-there while you get killed!_ ” Nico broke out into another sob. Oh, he had been _so_ right when he had told Will to get a ton of tissues. “This literally makes no sense. They— they’re so stupid.”

They cried for several other minutes, their hiccups fading into sniffles. At last, Will spoke up. “Ice-cream?” he asked.

“Ice-cream,” Nico confirmed.

After they both got their cup of gelato, they returned to the couch and, regardless of the heat, sat with their sides pressed together and their knees drawn to their torsos.

Will heaved a sigh and sniffled once more. “I… I think we should finish next week. I don’t have any more space for angst today.”

“Yeah,” Nico agreed, stuffing his mouth with Oreo ice-cream. “That was enough slander for today. Also, my ted-talk against Paris lasts about four hours, so we need more time.”

Will groaned. “Please, don’t make me think about him. Achilles’ death’ll come next episode. Stay tuned.”

They ate their servings silently, except for the stray last sobs here and there.

Nico’s mind was now cleared and a thought flashed through it. “You know,” he said, “I had never read past Patroclus’ death. Like, the actual chapter when he dies. Bianca and I stopped at that. I didn’t know Achilles’ reaction.” He was surprised at his lack of restraint and fear in telling him. He could as well have been talking about anything else; it was just him wondering aloud.

Will hummed. “I’ll read it to you till the end.”

Nico smiled softly and almost imperceptibly and pressed into Will’s side a bit more firmly.

“Hey,” Will called in a whisper, turning to gaze at him. “Will you play for me now?”

Nico wordlessly got up and headed to the piano.

“What are you gonna play?” Will demanded, leaning on the side of the couch and looking at Nico’s profile, sat on his black leather stool, completing his warm-up.

The corners of his lips turned up secretively. He shrugged, saying, “Secret.”

Will rolled his eyes and huffed, but Nico could discern anticipation and curiosity in his voice.

“I’m ‘bout to start,” Nico warned. He straightened, inhaled and exhaled deeply and brushed his hands over the entire keyboard, closing his eyes out of habit. Then he settled his fingers on the first keys of his piece; they sank and the colour, dark and cold as that of the night sky, erupted.

Nico barely thought. He’d practiced his project so many times, by now all he needed was muscle memory and concentration. Yet, not thinking about it didn’t mean not feeling. Playing, to him, was this immense field where every sensation and emotion that briefly flowed through him was registered and represented in some way. He could feel unabashedly, feel raw power in them, not filtered by anything. Nico _wanted_ Will to see them. He wanted them to overwhelm him, to convey themselves as pure as Nico himself sensed them.

It was not a coincidence that he had started really progressing on this composition when he had met Will. Surely, he supposed, it was not a coincidence that the deep colour of midnight blue fluctuated and resolved into molten gold.

Nico didn’t know how much time he had spent on that stool, his fingers flying over the keyboard as if they were ten tiny dragonflies. As soon as he wrapped the piece up, his shoulders slumped and he breathed out a sigh, a wave of weariness washing over him. He stayed there for another minute or so, gathering and preparing himself. Now would come Will’s reaction, assuming he hadn’t fled.

Nico stood and faced where Will was, then he immediately heard the sound of slow footsteps approaching. His hands were snatched up by the other boy’s and brought up higher than Nico’s own face. While his heart hammered from exertion and the sudden closeness, he wasn’t really following. It was as if his brain had decided to take a walk outside and had left Nico’s body alone in its denseness.

That is, until his hands touched wet, clammy skin. Nico’s first thought was that he really liked the texture of it, even though he could feel a pimple beneath his pinky. Then he realized this was Will’s face. His hands were still covering Nico’s.

“I told you I had no more space for tears, you idiot,” Will whined, letting out a broken laugh.

“You said you had no more space for _angst_ ,” he replied matter-of-factly. He was overrun with the sudden, weird urge to touch Will’s nose, run down the pad of his finger down its slope. As he heard another footstep, he noticed how close they were, to the point where he could sense Will’s strawberry-scented breath.

“Nico,” Will whispered like his name was a sweet secret, “can I—”

“Yeah,” he interrupted him, closing his eyes. Nothing came. He kept them closed for another beat; afterwards Nico caught up to reality and felt a pang of shame heat his whole face up. He was absolutely ready to flee his own apartment and burn it down with this embarrassing memory. Maybe he could even change country.

“You didn’t let me finish.” Will was pouting and Nico could actually _touch_ it, the way his frown was wrinkling his cheeks, just around his mouth.

Nico’s brow was drawn tight with confusion. “Are you being serious right now?”

“Hey!” Will took their hand off his face, but didn’t let Nico’s go. “Consent is important!”

Nico groaned loudly and threw his head back. The butterflies in his stomach didn’t appreciate Will’s desire to give him a lecture. “Oh, my God. Shut up.”

Will laughed like this definitely was where he wanted to be at that moment, swinging their hand back and forth. “Make me,” he challenged.

Nico huffed. “You and I both know that I’ll just head-butt you in your nose, so you either come down here or—”

With another delighted chuckle, Will leaned down and kissed him.

Nico tasted Will’s lips for the first time in the shape that he wished they could always be in – smiling.

“I think I can officially say I hate this book.”

“I’m the one who recommended it.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m breaking up with you.”

Nico snorted. “That’s a new low for me. Being dumped after exactly one week of dating.”

Will kicked his boyfriend in the shin, blowing his nose for – hopefully – the last time. “Are you some kind of sadist? Is this one of your kinks? Is it too early to discuss kinks?” he wondered aloud.

“Gross,” Nico answered, cringing at Will and kicking him, too, while also tightening his arms around Will’s chest. “Shut up and let me mourn.”

“My coping mechanism is annoying you.”

“Yeah, I’ve known for a long time.”

“You sound like and old man,” Will noted, detangling himself from Nico’s hold to get up and eliciting a disgruntled moan from him. He headed over to the freezer, getting their usual ice-cream and two spoons.

“I _am_ an old man,” Nico confirmed, sitting up discontentedly. Will’s chest had been quite comfortable – certainly more so than his thigh. “This is what you signed up for.”

Will returned to the couch, Nico making grabby hands at him. Then he found out he was making grabby hands at the ice-creaming he was bringing. Will sighed, resigned to being used like this by his own boyfriend. Regardless, he dropped a quick kiss on Nico’s forehead, making him stop midways through opening his ice-cream cup. “I’m fairly happy with what I signed up for as of now.”

Nico broke out into a shy grin, not able to stop the flush of his cheeks. He abandoned his gelato to search for Will’s hand and squeeze it briefly. He, too, was pretty sure that Will’s voice was at its brightest golden now. “I think I am, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaaand here we are. If you reached this point, then we're automatically friends. I really don't know how to thank you.  
> I really hope you've enjoyed this fluffy dumb thing, because I spent a month writing it AHAHAHAHAH but I swear I wasn't planning on publishing it on Valentine's, it's just a coincidence!! On that note, hope you're spending a nice, happy Valentine's Day uwu  
> By the way, if you want you can scream at me on twitter!! I also post a lot about anime and other books so hope that doesn't bother you lol here's the link: https://twitter.com/_ranphoe  
> (and if you're wondering, yes, I'm Italian and I talk from experience. come here and eat our gelato)  
> Again, thank you so much for reading this work!! If you'd like, I always remind you that kudos and comments are always appreciated and can motivate writers a lot!!  
> Hope I'll come bakc with more fanfictions!! For now, bye and thank you again <3
> 
> shizuhana


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